NEWS.CATEGORY: Industrial
TSSA ballot results at LNER, c2c and Northern
Hundreds of TSSA members at LNER and c2c have voted for strike action and action short of a strike in results revealed today. Meanwhile members at Northern voted for action short of a strike.
The dispute with the train operators is over pay, job security and conditions with the union also balloting members at Network Rail and other train companies across England (see notes).
TSSA is not naming dates for any industrial action today but will now consider next steps with workplace Reps at each of the companies involved.
*The ballot result at London North Eastern Railway (LNER) was as follows -
Prepared to take industrial action consisting of a strike -
Yes - 69.2 per cent
No – 30.8 per cent
Turnout was 63.9 per cent
Prepared to take industrial action short of a strike -
Yes - 85.7 per cent
No – 14.3 per cent
Turnout was 63.9 per cent
*The ballot result at c2c was as follows -
Prepared to take industrial action consisting of a strike -
Yes – 88.9 per cent
No – 11.1 per cent
Turnout was 58.4 per cent
Prepared to take industrial action short of a strike -
Yes – 90.3 per cent
No – 9.7 per cent
Turnout was 58.4 per cent
*The ballot result at Northern was as follows -
Prepared to take industrial action short of a strike -
Yes – 83.0 per cent
No – 17.0 per cent
Turnout was 60.1 per cent
Prepared to take industrial action consisting of a strike -
Yes – 59.0 per cent
No – 41.0 per cent
Turnout was 60.1 per cent
*Though members voted for strike action the threshold of those entitled to vote voting for strike action (40 per cent) was not met.
Commenting, union General Secretary, Manuel Cortes said: “Well done to all our members across LNER, c2c and Northern who took part in these ballots. This is a great result for our union and comes hard on the heels of similar votes at Avanti West Coast, East Midlands Railway and CrossCountry.
“The results demonstrate that our members are utterly determined to fight for their pay, jobs and conditions. They are right to do so amid the escalating Tory cost of living crisis and with a government hell bent on making swingeing cuts to our rail network.
“This is a strong outcome and it would be unwise for any rail company to ignore the feelings of our membership. We will soon speak to our workplace Reps to consider next steps in the forthcoming days.
“Ministers should take note - our union is balloting members across a dozen train companies and Network Rail. If they had any sense they would come to the table and sort this out, so we have a fair settlement for workers who were hailed as heroes in the pandemic."
Impact at LNER,
LNER runs services between London Kings Cross and Edinburgh.
TSSA has hundreds of members working in ticket offices, as station staff, customer services, control, HQ and management roles. These include some of the lowest paid workers in the rail industry in LNER’s customer solutions centre in Gosforth where staff are paid marginally above the minimum wage.
Stations impacted by action would include: Edinburgh, London King’s Cross, York, Doncaster, Leeds, Berwick, Newcastle, Durham, Wakefield, Retford, Peterborough, Grantham, Newark, Darlington.
LNER HQ is located in York where TSSA has members in both management and non-management roles, and many of TSSA’s members carry out safety critical duties.
Impact at C2C
C2C runs train services between Southend in Essex and London.
Stations potentially impacted include: London Fenchurch St, Barking, Basildon, Benfleet, Grays, Leigh on Sea, Southend Central, Southend East, West Ham, Upminster, and Westcliffe on Sea.
TSSA has members in a range of roles, including customer services, station staff, train despatch, managerial, technical, supervisor and support roles.
Impact at Northern
Northern runs rail services across the north of England.
TSSA has hundreds of members in management and non-management roles, including control, driver managers and conductor managers who have a vital
role in the safe running of the railway, as well as travel consultants and station staff.
TSSA members work in operational roles across the network, including in: Blackpool, the Lakes, Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, York, Sheffield, Skipton, Bradford and Newcastle. They also work in HQ in York and in the Leeds Neville Hill traincare depot where technical and managerial grades are responsible for safety checks and maintenance on a variety of trains including the latest Azuma fleet.
Industrial actions would cause significant disruption across these services – including action short of a strike.
TSSA is currently also balloting members over strike action and action short of a strike in a dispute over jobs, pay and conditions at West Midlands Trains, Southeastern, Great Western Railway, Greater Anglia ,TransPennine Express and Network Rail.
Members have voted for strike action East Midlands Railway, CrossCountry and in station grates at Avanti West Coast.
